Method of and apparatus for constructing tunnels



(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 1.

J. W. RENO. METHOD 0F AND APPARATUS FOB. GONSTRUGTING TUNNBLS.

No. 466,046. Patented Dec. 29, 189%. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\&\\\\\\\\sgATTORNEY.

(No Model.) Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. W. RENO. METHOD of* AND APPARATUS PoR GONSTRUGTING TUNNBLS.

Nq.. 466,046. Patented Deo. 29, 1891.

INVENT R ZZKQ f ATTORNEY.

-top line of the tunnel.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE lV. RENO, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONSTRUCT-ING TUNNELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,046, dated December29, 1891. Application filed May 21, 1891. Serial No. 393,542. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ESSE XV. RENO, of the city of New York, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Method ofand Apparatus for Constructing Subterranean Railway Structures andTunnels, which invention is fully set forth and illustrated in thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved method of andapparatus for constructing and driving tunnels under ground, inparticular where it is desired to drive the tunnel comparatively nearthe surface of the ground, without disturbing the main body of theground above the roof or The invention is therefore particularlyapplicable in situations where it is advisable to have the roof of thetunnel as near as possible to the surface of a street or avenue and yetbelow such existing obstructions as gas, water, and steam pipes,cable-road beds, &c.

The method and theapparatns described are particularly adapted for usein ground consisting of mixed sand and bowlders, and also where the soilis wet or marshy or of rolling or quicksand formation. The shape oftunnel to which this invention is specially adapted is rectangular incross-section. Such shape of tunnel is particularly desirable as arailway-tunnel because of the usual standard and almost necessarilyrectangular outline of railway-cars. There the tunnel is near thesurface of the ground, there will be of course comparatively littleoutside pressure upon the tunnel Walls or root'. Hence in such 1ocationthe rectangular periphery of tunnel is preferable.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows in cross-section the sidewalls of a tunnel with one form of cutting-shield mounted thereon inposition to be forced ahead in the proposed roof-line. Fig. 2 shows incrosssection, on a smaller scale, a completed tunnel divided by columnsor girders into four compartments, each forming a separate railway, witha car mounted on a track in one of said railways a, b, c, and d, showingcable railways, street-curbs, and gas and water pipes, respectively.Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section taken at the line E F of Fig.l, showing some of the roof-sections of the tunnel in place,roof-girders supporting the same and resting on central columns,horizontal, longitudinal, and transverse beams, and the shield insection, ready for cutting or entering the ground in advance of theroof-sections already in place. Fig. et shows a tunnel in cross-sectiondivided into four compartments or railways having a car mounted on atrack in one ot' said ways. This figure illustrates a modification ofthe method of constructing the wallsof the tunnel suited for wet groundor quicksand, the details of which modification will be hereinafterdescribed.

In said figures the several parts are indicated by reference-letters,like parts in each figure being indicated by like letters.

Referring now to Figs. l, 2, and 3,the method of constructing thetunnel, the construction of the shield and its adj uncts,and theoperation of the same are as follows: The side walls I of the tunnel maybe built oneat a time, if preferred, by digging an open trench from thesurface to the required depth below the ground and bracing said trenchwith a plank lining, after which the wall is constructed by filling inthe lined trench, which thus serves as a mold, with concrete to therequired height of the tunnel, and then illing in the open spaceremaining with earth and restoring the sul'- face of the ground to itsprevious condition, as shown in Fig. 2. The other tunnel-wall may thenbe similarly constructed and covered in. These trenches for thetunnel-walls being narrow can be easily lined and braced, thuspreventing any slipping of the ground between the trenches and thefoundations of buildings in proximity. The walls of the tunnel beingthus completed, the ground between them is then excavated, while theearth or material over the line of the tunnel is supported` by acutting-edge or roof-shield J, strengthened by a girder-piece A, Fig. l,resting at each end on rollers H upon the cornpleted walls I.

The roof of the tunnel, with the aid of the shield, is constructed inthe manner now to be described. An opening is made to permit the placingof two roof-shields back to back upon the tops of the walls I, with thecuttingedges of the shields pointing in opposite directions. The shieldsare then forced apart IOO by their several hydraulic pistons i adistance sufiicient to admit one of the channel steel sections K, Fig.3, of which the roof of the tunnel consists, to be put in place. Theground between the two side walls and under the roof-shield is then cutdown or excavated by picks and shovels or by blasting, if necessary. Thehydraulic pistons G then force the shields ahead for another cut in eachdirection, when another channel-steel roof-section K is put in in rearof the hydraulic pistons, and these operations are continued or repeateduntil a distance of about twelve feet is attained, when a pair ofcentral iron columns C are erected, and the permanent girder B,supporting the roof-section K in the center of the tunnel, is slid intoplace through the open ing B in the girder A, Fig. l. The pair ofworking girders D are used to support the roof-sections at the center oftheir span until the advancing shield has been moved a distancesufficient to place a permanent girder B in position. It will beobserved that the roof-shield .l extends back over an adjacentroof-section K, so that after the shield has been advanced one cut andthe hydraulic pistons are placed fortheir next strokes there issufficient space to insert an additional roofsection. The roof-sectionsare divided at the center in order to facilitate their being placed inposition. There the ground to be tnnneled carries bowlders, the shieldis to be provided with steel feelers or indicator bars P, held in slidesor guides and backed with stiff springs, preferably coiled, Fig. 3, sothat when an obstruction is encountered one or more of the bars P willbe forced back, and thus indicate to the workmen at the heading thepresence of something requiring to be removed before forcing the shieldfarther ahead. The cutting-edge of the shield will thus be preservedfrom injury.

Among other advantages inherent in this invention the construction ofthe side walls irst and in the manner above described perfeetfamiliarity with the ground to be excavated is rst obtained, and anysewers or pipes which may be encountered in digging the trenches for theside walls may be altered or changed in position before the walls arelaid. The walls also will have had sufficient time to set and seasonbefore being subjected to any pressure. The invention also admits of theapplication in tunneling of the principle of the girder-roof span,instead of that of the masonry arch, the former having recognizedadvantages over the latter.

As the main feature in tunneling is the support of the roof, thisinvention provides (with a minimum roof-span) for a tunnel having acapacity sufficient for four tracks, with one pair over the other pair,the upper tracks supported upon transverse girders N, Figs. 2 and 3.These girders il rest at each end in sockets molded into the concreteside walls I of the tunnel and in the center upon the iron columns C,which, together with longitudinal girders B, divide the span of theroof. The horizontal girders N, besides supporting the pair of uppertracks, resist the inward pressure of the tunnels side walls, while therow oi' vertical iron columns C throughout the center line of the tunnelsimilarly brace the tunnel-roof along the vertical plane. Thisarrangement of a four-track tunnel permits of easy access to theear-platforms of all trains, which would not be the case were the fourtracks on a level,while the iron structure in the tunnel permits throughcirculation of air for ventilation in all four compartments, and thearea of the boring containing all the tracks is utilized for the easylateral displacement ot' the air in front of rapidly-moving trains. Anysuitable number of fan-blowers or other Ventilating devices may beemployed at suitable intervals at the passenger-stations or elsewhere inthe line, as maybe desired.

In Fig. i a modification of thisinvention is shown, which will new bedescribed as follows: This modification may be used in ground in whichthe pressure of water, quicksands, or swelling clay is encountered. Thearrangenient provides for a tunnel the sides, iioor, and roof of whichare formed of hollow castiron girder-panels S, bolted together, as shownat T, built in immediately in the rear or an advancing shield, which inthis modiiication is used to separately cut portions of the entireperiphery instead of the roof portion alone, as described in relation toFigs. l, 2, and 3. The iron girder-panels S, which may conveniently havea width of abouttwo feet (that is their dimension parallel with the axisof the tu nnel) are provided with strengthening-iianges XV, and at theirpoints of common intersection are braced by the horizontal and verticalmembers U and V, respectively. As the transverse girders U will be onlyabout two feet apart, they will serve directly for support of the railsof the upper tracks, thus obviating the use of cross-ties for the railsand diminishing the required dimensionsof thetunnel. Theties of thelowertracks maybe embedded in a concrete iillingbetween the dan ges of thegirder-panels which form the floor of the tunnel. This constructionbeing thus internally braced will be stronger than a circular tunnel ofthe same capacity and will also have less sectional area. A tunnel orsection of a tunnel constructed in accordance with this arrangement ofthe invention herein described and claimed,being made of iron or steelpanels bolted together at their fianges, will have a lining imperviousto Water. A tunnel of this description may be driven without disturbingthe surface at all by having a girder-cutting shield in front of each ofthe panels S, Fig. 4, which upon being separately forced ahead wouldcollectively eut out the whole periphery of the tunnel, when the placingin position of the panels S and the horizontal and vertical members U Vwould immediately follow. The cuttingedges of the girder-shields in thisdescription.

IOO

IIO

of work are the same as that shown in Fig. 2 for the roof-shield, exceptthat the plates may be carried to the outline of the steel panelsinstead of forming a straight line.

The roof-sections in the side-wall tunnels and the panel-sections in thetunnel shownin Fig. 4 may be provided with holes L at suitableintervals, through which grout or cement may be driven by a pump, as iscommonly done where required with masonry-work. This grout will fill.upany cavities outside the bounding walls of the tunnel and will also fillup the space left vacant by the cuttingplate of the shield where theearth does not fill in behind it.

It is obvious that the same advantages for lateral displacement of airin front of moving trains and facility for Ventilating by means of fansor blowers exist in either form of tunnel, Whether having the concretewalls ormetal panel-walls.

I claiml. The method of tunnel construction, consisting in lirstbuilding side walls in trenches cut down from the surface of the ground,then at or about the distance of the tunnel-roof below said surfaceforcing a cutting-shield horizontally in advance of the plane of theroof and removing the ground between said walls, and then placingroof-sections in the rear of the advancing shield, substantially as setforth.

2. A subterranean rectangular railway structure composed of two sidewalls, a roof,

and floor, the roof consisting of transverse girders supported by saidwalls and by central columns supporting longitudinal girders, the sidewalls being braced laterally by transverse girders in a plane at or nearthe center of the height of the structure, the whole 1nterior space ofthe structure being thus taken up and divided into two upper and twolower railway-compartments of substantially equal area, wherebyprovision is made for the entire rectangular area of the structure to beoccupied by four railway-trains, for the purposes set forth.

3. A cutting-shield adapted to cut the line of the roof of a tunnel forrailway or other purposes, consisting of a cutting plate or plates and astrengthening-bilder, said girder provided with means for sustaining thee'nds of temporary roof-girders until the advance of the shield farenough to admit of the insertion of permanent roof-girders,substantially as set forth.

Ll. An apparatus for use in the. construction of tunnels for railway andother purposes, consisting of a girder-shield provided with projectingbars or feelers and yielding springs for said bars, whereby the presenceof rock or other obstructive matter may be indicated before contact ofthe shield therewith.

, 'JESSE W. RENO.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS P. REILLY, THEO. H. FRIEND.

